TIDM, Affaire du navire «San Padre Pio» (Suisse c. Nigéria), mesures conservatoires, ordonnance du 6 juillet 2019 : des «préoccupations humanitaires» au détriment des droits des parties ?

In: Annuaire français de droit international, Band 65, Heft 1, S. 159-168

Abstract

After the seizure and immobilization by the Nigerian navy of the Swiss tanker, the «San Padre Pio » , suspected of illegal bunkering of hydrocarbons, and the arrest of its crew, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea makes, on July 6, 2019, an order concerning provisional measures pending the constitution of the arbitral tribunal on the basis of the Montego Bay Convention. ITLOS prescribes three measures : Switzerland must post a large bond, Nigeria will then release the ship and the sailors, and Switzerland will undertake to ensure that the master and the three officers are returned if the arbitral tribunal considers that Nigeria has not violated the Convention. If the purpose of these measures is the safeguard of the rights of the parties, this controversial order raises particular problems, allowing to note the demanding nature of the conditions to prescribe it, as well as taking into account certain «humanitarian concerns » which go beyond the Law of the Sea and form part of an extensive interpretation of General International Law and even International Human Rights Law.